Sub-Markets on Crypto-Exchanges and Their Volumes [An Analysis]

The article lists the crypto sub-markets of a number of crypto-exchanges, and gives results of a snapshot — a moment in time, of the trading volumes of the most traded items, normalized — in percentages, and arranged from max to min.

1. Introduction

This article is a show-case of the massive data collection and processing capabilities of our automated crypto & For-Ex trading and visualization project at —  .

There is a new and emerging field of crypto-analytics - we like to be one of the pioneers in the field.

Is a hands-on article where the list can be used as a reference when doing crypto-currency trading.

2. What are the ‘sub-markets’ on crypto-exchanges?

Crypto-exchanges offer trading of assets in currency pairs. Most people are familiar with the trading based on the fiat USD , and the USD based ‘stable coins’ like USDT (Tether).

Some people also do trading based on major crypto-coins like — BTC and ETH.

However, in addition to the above mentioned fiat and major coins, crypto exchanges offer a wide variety of fiat currencies and crypto-coins as a base for trading of the rest of the crypto-coins.

So, we can define a sub-market of a specific crypto-exchange to be the basis against which the rest of crypto-coins are trading.

To further clarify the definition please consider these examples -

• BTC-USDT , ETH-USDT — USD Tether based sub-market
• LTC-BTC, XRP-BTC  — Bitcoin based sub-market
• XRP-EUR, ADA-EUR  — fiat Euro based sub-market
• ETC-ETH, XLM-ETH  — Ethereum based sub-market

The sub-markets of a specific exchange can be obtained by calling the REST API of the exchange — to get a list of the asset items, or to get a price quote of all items. 

The next step is to sort the items into groups having the same base currency. This will form a list of all sub-markets of a specific crypto-exchange. The sum of all ‘sub-markets’ of all of the crypto-exchanges forms the total crypto-currencies market.

3. Methodology of the volumes snapshot

The first step of making the volumes snapshot is getting price quote and 24 hours volume for all items (pairs) from all of the exchanges

Next, all items are sorted according to sub-markets. Then, in order to be able to compare all pairs the price and volume information is converted to USD.
 
 Taking exchanges one by one the volume of all items is compared to find the single item having maximum volume at the specific moment. This item is going to be assigned 100% volume. The other items on the same exchange are compared to the max 100% value.
 
Many crypto exchanges have lots of items/pairs listed. In order to reduce the number of items to display the program doing the analysis discards all results less than 1% of the max trading volume. 
 
 This is a pretty low level of the bar to be set but it still eliminates around 90% of all trades on the exchanges. The results of the volumes analysys shows that the bulk of the trading volume is done in just few items/pairs.
 
 Alternative methodology is to add the volumes of all pairs to form the total volume of an exchange. However such methodology will minimize the results for individual pairs. The current methodology — compare with the max, magnifies the results, makes them better readable and understandable. 
 
 Without further delay, please check the results — below.

4. Crypto-exchanges — Sub-markets and Volumes in % /// on 2020 02 29 05:57:50 UTC

0-hitbtc markets (in USD): 0-BCH/319.828003 1-BTC/8765.480469 2-DAI/1.002156 3-EOS/3.627020 4-EOSDT/0.996402 5-ETH/231.345001 6-EURS/1.096370 7-GUSD/0.996174 8-PAX/0.999697 9-TUSD/1.000000 10-USD/1.000000 11-USDC/0.999531 12-USDT20/1.001040
 1-BTC: ETHBTC 10.0%, BSVBTC 3.2%, EOSBTC 3.1%, BCHBTC 2.8%, XRPBTC 2.6%, LTCBTC 2.2%, TRXBTC 1.4%, NEOBTC 1.0%,
 5-ETH: ETCETH 2.5%,
 9-TUSD: ONTUSD 1.2%,
 10-USD: BTCUSD 100.0%, ETHUSD 44.5%, BCHUSD 16.1%, EOSUSD 13.7%, LTCUSD 11.9%, BSVUSD 10.4%, ETCUSD 6.5%, TRXUSD 2.9%, DASHUSD 2.8%, ZECUSD 2.1%, NEOUSD 1.7%, QTUMUSD 1.2%,

2-bitfinex markets (in USD): 0-USD/1.000000 1-BTC/8783.700195 2-EUR/1.102773 3-JPY/0.009249 4-ETH/232.229996 5-GBP/1.282142 6-UST/1.002500 7-EOS/3.639500 
 0-USD: BTCUSD 100.0%, ETHUSD 49.5%, BABUSD 10.9%, EOSUSD 9.3%, LTCUSD 8.7%, XRPUSD 7.4%, USTUSD 6.7%, BSVUSD 4.4%, XTZUSD 4.1%, ETCUSD 2.2%, ZECUSD 1.3%,
 1-BTC: ETHBTC 3.5%, EOSBTC 2.7%, LTCBTC 1.1%, BSVBTC 1.0%,
 2-EUR: BTCEUR 10.0%, ETHEUR 6.4%, EOSEUR 1.1%,
 3-JPY: BTCJPY 1.4%,
 5-GBP: BTCGBP 1.7%,
 6-UST: BTCUST 9.6%, ETHUST 6.8%,

3-exmo markets (in USD): 0-EXM/1.000000 1-USD/1.000000 2-EUR/1.145710 3-RUB/0.015330 4-PLN/0.265300 5-TRY/0.165587 6-UAH/0.042232 7-KZT/0.002556 8-BTC/9099.360352 9-LTC/63.400002 10-ETH/239.839996 11-USDT/1.000000 12-EOS/3.751704 13-DAI/1.023191
 0-EXM: CRON_EXM 100.0%, ONT_EXM 33.9%, ONG_EXM 3.8%,
 1-USD: BTC_USD 70.4%, ETH_USD 38.4%, XRP_USD 15.1%, BCH_USD 9.5%, LTC_USD 8.9%, USDT_USD 5.4%, ETC_USD 4.4%, ZEC_USD 3.8%, EOS_USD 2.9%, XMR_USD 2.5%, DASH_USD 1.7%, WAVES_USD 1.7%, NEO_USD 1.6%, TRX_USD 1.6%, XLM_USD 1.3%, ADA_USD 1.1%,
 2-EUR: BTC_EUR 14.3%, ETH_EUR 4.4%, LTC_EUR 3.5%, BCH_EUR 1.8%,
 3-RUB: BTC_RUB 44.7%, ETH_RUB 12.6%, USD_RUB 10.1%, XRP_RUB 4.1%, LTC_RUB 3.1%, BCH_RUB 2.3%, ETC_RUB 2.3%, ZEC_RUB 1.6%, USDT_RUB 1.4%, WAVES_RUB 1.2%, TRX_RUB 1.1%,
 4-PLN: BTC_PLN 2.1%,
 5-TRY: BTC_TRY 1.7%,
 6-UAH: BTC_UAH 6.4%, ETH_UAH 3.6%,
 8-BTC: ETH_BTC 16.7%, LTC_BTC 6.6%, ROOBEE_BTC 4.7%, BCH_BTC 4.4%, ETC_BTC 2.6%, EOS_BTC 2.6%, ZEC_BTC 2.5%, VLX_BTC 2.3%, DASH_BTC 2.1%, NEO_BTC 1.4%,
 9-LTC: ETH_LTC 3.3%,
 10-ETH: BCH_ETH 2.5%, XRP_ETH 2.0%, XMR_ETH 1.0%,
 11-USDT: ETH_USDT 4.4%, XRP_USDT 2.0%, BCH_USDT 1.8%,

4-bittrex markets (in USD): 0-BTC/8774.982422 1-ETH/231.610001 2-USD/1.000000 3-USDT/1.000000
 0-BTC: DMT-BTC 77.7%, ETH-BTC 24.0%, BSV-BTC 11.2%, ADA-BTC 8.4%, XRP-BTC 7.4%, TUSD-BTC 6.5%, XTP-BTC 5.8%, LTC-BTC 4.0%, BURST-BTC 3.5%, WAXP-BTC 3.3%, BCH-BTC 2.7%, VITE-BTC 2.2%, TRX-BTC 2.2%, XTZ-BTC 2.2%, HBAR-BTC 2.0%, EMC2-BTC 2.0%, VTC-BTC 1.8%, LINK-BTC 1.6%, XST-BTC 1.6%, RVN-BTC 1.5%, MONA-BTC 1.5%, XEM-BTC 1.4%, XMR-BTC 1.4%, ABBC-BTC 1.3%, HEDG-BTC 1.3%, HXRO-BTC 1.2%, XLM-BTC 1.2%, EOS-BTC 1.1%, QTUM-BTC 1.1%, DGB-BTC 1.1%, XVG-BTC 1.0%,
 1-ETH: DMT-ETH 20.2%,
 2-USD: BTC-USD 100.0%, ETH-USD 40.4%, BSV-USD 8.9%, XRP-USD 6.5%, USDT-USD 5.6%, BCH-USD 3.2%, HBAR-USD 2.3%, ADA-USD 2.1%, LTC-USD 1.8%,
 3-USDT: BTC-USDT 42.1%, ETH-USDT 11.0%, BSV-USDT 3.3%, NEO-USDT 3.0%, XRP-USDT 1.9%, BCH-USDT 1.7%, LTC-USDT 1.6%, ADA-USDT 1.4%, NPXS-USDT 1.2%, WICC-USDT 1.1%,

5-digifinex markets (in USD): 0-usdt/1.000000 1-trx/0.017282 2-dft/1.000000 3-btc/8768.150391 4-eth/231.320007 5-bch/319.720001
 0-usdt: btc_usdt 100.0%, eth_usdt 76.7%, bch_usdt 42.7%, eos_usdt 38.7%, ltc_usdt 22.0%, etc_usdt 14.3%, xrp_usdt 13.5%, bsv_usdt 13.0%, trx_usdt 5.4%, bcb_usdt 4.9%, zec_usdt 3.9%, dash_usdt 3.8%, ont_usdt 2.5%, neo_usdt 2.5%, dft_usdt 2.5%, tusd_usdt 1.3%,
 2-dft: ltc_dft 2.8%, dwc_dft 2.8%, qtum_dft 1.7%,
 3-btc: eth_btc 10.4%, ltc_btc 7.9%, etc_btc 5.1%, bsv_btc 3.6%, eos_btc 3.5%, xrp_btc 2.0%, dash_btc 1.8%, rvn_btc 1.3%, neo_btc 1.0%, zec_btc 1.0%,
 4-eth: etc_eth 2.3%, eos_eth 1.4%, trx_eth 1.1%,

9-okex markets (in USD): 0-BTC/8766.200195 1-USDT/1.000000 2-ETH/231.520004 3-OKB/5.983000 4-USDK/1.000000 5-DAI/0.999800
 0-BTC: LTC-BTC 8.7%, ETH-BTC 6.3%, ETC-BTC 5.8%, BSV-BTC 3.3%, BCH-BTC 3.2%, OKB-BTC 3.1%, EOS-BTC 3.0%, TRX-BTC 2.4%, TRUE-BTC 2.1%, XTZ-BTC 1.8%, XRP-BTC 1.3%, MCO-BTC 1.2%,
 1-USDT: BTC-USDT 100.0%, ETH-USDT 36.3%, EOS-USDT 18.5%, BCH-USDT 16.3%, BSV-USDT 15.5%, OKB-USDT 14.1%, LTC-USDT 8.9%, ETC-USDT 8.2%, XRP-USDT 4.2%, TRX-USDT 3.3%, NEO-USDT 2.8%, XTZ-USDT 2.8%, MOF-USDT 2.0%, LINK-USDT 1.5%, APM-USDT 1.4%, DASH-USDT 1.2%,
 2-ETH: OKB-ETH 6.7%, ETC-ETH 3.1%, EOS-ETH 2.4%, TRX-ETH 1.4%,
 4-USDK: BTC-USDK 1.4%,

10-kucoin markets (in USD): 0-BTC/8765.500000 1-ETH/231.440002 2-USDT/1.000000 3-NEO/11.392300 4-DAI/1.004020 5-KCS/1.183320 6-TUSD/0.999065 7-PAX/1.000365 8-TRX/0.017302 9-NUSD/0.998350 10-USDC/1.000000
 0-BTC: ETH-BTC 24.2%, BCHSV-BTC 17.4%, XRP-BTC 5.0%, BCHABC-BTC 4.2%, KCS-BTC 4.0%, TRX-BTC 3.8%, XTZ-BTC 3.5%, LTC-BTC 3.4%, EOS-BTC 2.7%, VIDT-BTC 2.3%, COTI-BTC 2.3%, XNS-BTC 1.8%, ROOBEE-BTC 1.4%, LUNA-BTC 1.2%, VRA-BTC 1.2%,
 1-ETH: BCHSV-ETH 3.3%, XRP-ETH 3.0%, DX-ETH 2.5%, TRX-ETH 2.0%, EOS-ETH 1.8%, BCHABC-ETH 1.6%, KCS-ETH 1.4%, LTC-ETH 1.2%,
 2-USDT: BTC-USDT 100.0%, ETH-USDT 81.4%, BCHSV-USDT 52.7%, KCS-USDT 49.8%, ROAD-USDT 44.6%, BCHABC-USDT 22.6%, XRP-USDT 19.8%, EOS-USDT 18.4%, LTC-USDT 11.6%, XTZ-USDT 7.6%, TRX-USDT 4.8%, ARX-USDT 4.0%, XNS-USDT 1.7%, SUTER-USDT 1.6%, SDT-USDT 1.5%, COTI-USDT 1.3%, LUNA-USDT 1.2%, ATOM-USDT 1.1%, ETC-USDT 1.1%,
 10-USDC: BTC-USDC 1.0%,

11-binance markets (in USD): 0-BTC/8764.709961 1-RUB/0.015079 2-PAX/0.999000 3-XRP/0.240550 4-TUSD/0.999200 5-BNB/19.192400 6-ETH/231.399994 7-USDT/1.000000 8-USDS/0.997300 9-TRY/0.159794 10-TRX/0.017300 11-EUR/1.098700 12-NGN/0.002787 13-USDC/1.000000 14-BUSD/0.999200
 0-BTC: ETHBTC 7.4%, LINKBTC 5.7%, BNBBTC 4.0%, LTCBTC 2.6%, XTZBTC 2.5%, XRPBTC 2.0%, EOSBTC 1.8%, BCHBTC 1.5%, MATICBTC 1.3%, DASHBTC 1.1%, ADABTC 1.1%, KNCBTC 1.0%,
 4-TUSD: BTCTUSD 1.5%,
 7-USDT: BTCUSDT 100.0%, ETHUSDT 38.5%, LINKUSDT 12.9%, BCHUSDT 11.8%, LTCUSDT 10.0%, BNBUSDT 9.2%, EOSUSDT 9.0%, XRPUSDT 7.1%, ETHBULLUSDT 7.0%, ETHBEARUSDT 6.0%, ETCUSDT 4.9%, BUSDUSDT 4.8%, XTZUSDT 4.7%, EOSBULLUSDT 3.7%, ADAUSDT 2.7%, TRXUSDT 2.5%, DASHUSDT 2.1%, ZECUSDT 1.8%, XLMUSDT 1.7%, TUSDUSDT 1.6%, USDCUSDT 1.5%, MATICUSDT 1.5%, XRPBULLUSDT 1.5%, EOSBEARUSDT 1.5%, NEOUSDT 1.4%, ATOMUSDT 1.3%, BULLUSDT 1.2%, ONTUSDT 1.1%, VETUSDT 1.0%,
 13-USDC: BTCUSDC 2.2%,
 14-BUSD: BTCBUSD 6.0%,

12-poloniex markets (in USD): 0-BTC/8763.950195 1-USDT/1.000000 2-ETH/231.317352 3-USDC/1.000000 4-TRX/0.017300
 0-BTC: ETH_BTC 16.1%, XRP_BTC 15.1%, LTC_BTC 4.3%, BCHABC_BTC 2.4%, BCHSV_BTC 1.7%, TRX_BTC 1.2%,
 1-USDT: BTC_USDT 100.0%, ETH_USDT 33.6%, TRX_USDT 26.9%, XRP_USDT 2.7%, LTC_USDT 1.1%,
 3-USDC: BTC_USDC 31.6%, ETH_USDC 5.3%, USDT_USDC 2.9%, BCHSV_USDC 2.4%,

17-huobi markets (in USD): 0-husd/1.000000 1-btc/8764.349609 2-hb10/0.538800 3-bht/0.041187 4-ht/4.924100 5-usdt/1.000000 6-eth/231.470001 7-trx/0.017305
 0-husd: usdthusd 3.3%,
 1-btc: ethbtc 14.1%, htbtc 7.9%, bchbtc 3.5%, bsvbtc 3.2%, seelebtc 3.0%, eosbtc 2.2%, ltcbtc 1.4%, xrpbtc 1.3%,
 5-usdt: btcusdt 100.0%, ethusdt 72.6%, htusdt 37.0%, bchusdt 32.4%, eosusdt 22.0%, ltcusdt 15.6%, bsvusdt 15.4%, xrpusdt 8.2%, etcusdt 6.6%, linkusdt 4.6%, trxusdt 4.2%, zecusdt 3.5%, dashusdt 3.5%, seeleusdt 3.2%, adausdt 1.2%, ontusdt 1.2%, algousdt 1.1%,
 6-eth: hteth 2.2%,

19-bitmex markets (in USD): 0-XBT/8902.340820 1-USD/1.000000
 1-USD: (XBTH20) XBTUSD 100.0%, (XBTM20) XBTUSD 77.1%, (ETHUSD) ETHUSD 9.5%,

20-coinbene markets (in USD): 0-ETH/231.399994 1-BTC/8764.559570 2-USDT/1.000000 3-BRL/0.219114
 1-BTC: ETH/BTC 35.5%, NEO/BTC 6.9%, LTC/BTC 5.9%, EOS/BTC 5.7%, TRX/BTC 2.6%, BSV/BTC 2.5%, XRP/BTC 2.1%, LINK/BTC 1.3%,
 2-USDT: BTC/USDT 100.0%, BCH/USDT 45.6%, BSV/USDT 22.8%, EOS/USDT 20.4%, ETH/USDT 12.8%, ETC/USDT 10.0%, LTC/USDT 8.6%, TRX/USDT 2.2%, BNB/USDT 2.2%, OKB/USDT 2.2%, ZEC/USDT 1.7%, NEO/USDT 1.6%, DASH/USDT 1.5%, XRP/USDT 1.5%,

21-bitz markets (in USD): 0-btc/8763.809570 1-usdt/1.000000 2-bz/0.165100 3-dkkt/0.138858 4-eth/231.389999
 0-btc: eth_btc 100.0%, bchsv_btc 3.4%, eos_btc 1.5%, bnb_btc 1.4%, ltc_btc 1.4%,
 1-usdt: tusd_usdt 98.6%, eth_usdt 47.0%, bchabc_usdt 46.5%, pax_usdt 25.2%, btc_usdt 22.8%, xrp_usdt 11.9%, ltc_usdt 10.2%, ht_usdt 7.9%, etc_usdt 6.8%, bchsv_usdt 3.6%, bnb_usdt 3.3%, atom_usdt 3.2%, dash_usdt 2.8%, algo_usdt 2.8%,
 3-dkkt: eth_dkkt 1.4%,

22-zb markets (in USD): 0-qc/7.127400 1-btc/8762.419922 2-usdt/1.000000
 0-qc: eosqc 100.0%, ethqc 86.3%, btcqc 32.5%, xrpqc 23.5%, usdtqc 20.5%, hcqc 17.9%, hsrqc 17.9%, paxqc 14.7%, ltcqc 8.4%, zbqc 6.8%, btsqc 4.8%, dashqc 3.9%, etcqc 3.0%, qtumqc 2.9%, adaqc 1.6%, dnaqc 1.0%,
 2-usdt: btcusdt 12.0%, ethusdt 4.8%, eosusdt 2.5%, tusdusdt 1.2%, ltcusdt 1.1%,

24-bitmart markets (in USD): 0-BTC/8760.339844 1-ETH/230.429993 2-USDT/1.000000 3-BMX/0.017200 4-BHD/5.150000 5-TRX/0.017247 6-USDC/1.000000 7-PAX/0.997800
 0-BTC: ETH_BTC 63.6%, BCH_BTC 5.1%, EOS_BTC 4.5%, BSV_BTC 3.9%, REP_BTC 3.0%, NEO_BTC 2.3%,
 2-USDT: ETH_USDT 69.3%, BTC_USDT 50.4%, BCH_USDT 5.8%, NEO_USDT 2.6%, LTC_USDT 2.1%, DASH_USDT 1.1%,
 6-USDC: BTC_USDC 100.0%,
 7-PAX: BTC_PAX 4.8%,

27-bitoffer markets (in USD): 0-BTC/8765.280273 1-USDT/1.000000 2-ETH/231.410004
 0-BTC: ETH-BTC 28.9%,
 1-USDT: BTC-USDT 100.0%, ETH-USDT 79.6%, BCH-USDT 1.0%,

5. Analysis and commments

The specific snapshot was performed on — 2020 02 29 05:57:50 UTC.

The top line lists the exchange name, followed by the sub-markets,, where each one has a quote in USD, as for example -
 2-bitfinex markets (in USD): 0-USD/1.000000 1-BTC/8783.700195 2-EUR/1.102773 …

The bottom part shows each of the sub-markets, followed by a list of pair-items with their percentage, sorted in descending order, like for example -
0-USD: BTCUSD 100.0%, ETHUSD 49.5%, BABUSD 10.9%, …
 1-BTC: ETHBTC 3.5%, EOSBTC 2.7%, …
 2-EUR: BTCEUR 10.0%, ETHEUR 6.4%, …
 
 Sub-markets which have items with less than 1% of the max trading volume are not included in the list.
 
It is not a surprise that the most traded pair on most of the crypto-exchanges is BTC-USD (BTC-USDT) — having the largest 24hr volume (100%).

Exmo exchange offers trading in lots of fiat currencies in addition to USD and EUR like — RUB(Russian rubles), UAH(Ukrainian hryvnas), PLN(Polish zloti). A suprising finding is that a pair based on the Exmo coin (EXM) — CRON_EXM 100.0%, has the larges volume in this moment of time, and supasses the otherwise most traded pair — BTC_USD 70.4%,.
 
Bittrex exchange has both — fiat USD and Tether USDT sub-markets active in trading — BTC-USD 100.0% and BTC-USDT 42.1%. Exchanges have usually only one or the other markets active.

Binance is considered the largest crypto exchange by total trading volume. Among the results I am finding surprising bull&bear items/pairs like — ETHBULLUSDT 7.0%, ETHBEARUSDT 6.0%, EOSBULLUSDT 3.7%, XRPBULLUSDT 1.5%, EOSBEARUSDT 1.5%, BULLUSDT 1.2%.
 
Poloniex exchange has both Tether USDT and :Circle USDC sub-markets active — BTC_USDT and: BTC_USDC 31.6%, .

Bitz exchange has results which at the moment of the snapship are different than most other exchages in the BTC sub-market with the eth_btc pair having the largest volume - 100.0%, followed by the USDT sub-market with several pairs — tusd_usdt 98.6%, eth_usdt 47.0%, bchabc_usdt 46.5% …

ZB exchange has most active sub-market in the ZB’s own coin — qc, which gets the bulk of the trading volume — eosqc 100.0%, ethqc 86.3%, btcqc 32.5%…

Bitmart exchange has 3 active sub-markets — BTC: with ETH_BTC 63.6%, pair, USDT: with ETH_USDT 69.3%, and BTC_USDT 50.4%, pairs and USDC: with BTC_USDC 100.0%, pair.

Bitmex is a crypto-derivatives exchange offering contracts which are settled in XBT/Bitcoin. At the moment of the snapshot it has USD sub-market most active with (XBTH20) XBTUSD 100.0%, and (XBTM20) XBTUSD 77.1%, pairs.

Bitoffer is also a crypto-derivatives exchange offering contracts which are settled in crypto-currencies. The exchange has the USDT sub-market with BTC-USDT 100.0%, ETH-USDT 79.6% pairs, and BTC sub-market with: ETH-BTC 28.9% pair being most active.

6. Conclusion and next steps

Most of the trading volume of crypto-exchanges is concentrated in few items/pairs, and includes USD, BTC and ETH based pairs.

Based on the results we can claim that 1–5% of the trading pairs account for 90–99% of the total trading volume on an exchange.

The results of the volumes check are a snapshot — a frozen moment in time.

We have the technology capability to visualize the changes in volumes and place them on a chart. Such chart will show movements which may indicate out-flow of one pair and in-flow into another pair.

We plan to offer such volumes charts as a service. Please check the reference section which is related to visualizing of foreign exchange information.

Reference